Every serious UNIX programmer has a copy of Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, First Edition. The biggest question when I picked up the new Second Edition was not if it was worth having but if it was worth having if you already have the First Edition.

The short answer is yes.

The two most important new features in the 2nd Edition are threading and network IPC (aka sockets). Both of these are often used features in this day and age of POSIX.1 compliant Operating System's that were not included in the 1st Edition.

It is also important to note all chapters of the old book have been updated to include any POSIX.1 changes. There are tons of great coding examples for each topic that should compile on Linux, BSD, MacOSX, and all other UNIX OS's.

Here is a quick rundown of all the topics:

1. File I/O
2. Standard I/O
3. Process Environment/Control/Relationships
4. Signals
5. Threads/Threads Control
6. Daemon Processes
7. Advanced I/O
8. IPC (include network sockets).
9. Terminal I/O
10. Psuedo terminals
11. Printer communication
12. A database library implementation

About 400 syscalls are outlined and demonstrated for those of you that perfer a more hands on experience.

All in all, this is really a book serious UNIX programmers can't live without.

The downside? At about 4 inches thick and a couple of pounds in weight you will want to have a copy on both your home and work bookshelves so you don't have to lug it around.